Cost Of Schools Up $12 Million

November 30, 1987|By KIKI BOCHI, Education Writer

Estimates on the cost of construction for six new public schools in Broward County have skyrocketed by more than $12 million in the past year, forcing district officials to look for ways to cut corners.

A comparison between figures prepared before June`s school bond issue and more recent statistics reveals differences ranging from $500,000 to $3.4 million per school.

School officials acknowledge that the numbers have changed, but they say they had expected some adjustments in the cost estimates.

``The new prices we have now are realistic,`` said Ray de la Feuilliez, the school system`s associate superintendent for facilities.

Since compiling the original construction figures, the school system has received bids for a number of the projects and has been able to develop better estimates, de la Feuilliez said.

Before, he said, ``We were using numbers that weren`t based on experience and reality.``

The original estimates were used to help generate the $827 million package of construction and renovation projects to be financed in part by the bond issue. The numbers were based on ballpark figures that the school system had come to consider the standard cost of building elementary, middle and high schools.

School Board member Neil Sterling, who spearheaded the campaign for the bond issue, said the cost of Broward County`s new schools is certainly ``worthy of review.``

``I have been concerned for a while about the cost of the new schools -- what we`re budgeting for them and how much they`re costing,`` he said.

Sterling said he has confidence in the overall package of estimates prepared for the bond issue. But he said he would like to compare Broward`s new school designs and prices to those of other districts.

``I am concerned with both the cost of the new schools and that the costs are increasing,`` he said. ``I think, as we embark on new school construction projects, that we should make sure we`re building the kind of schools we want them to be, but at a cost we can afford.``

Nineteen new schools are planned as part of the $317 million bond passed by voters in June. In addition, four aging schools will be replaced and virtually every other school in the district is slated for updating, expansion or renovations.

A special task force of citizens will convene on Dec. 9 to decide which projects to undertake first.

Meanwhile, school officials are aware of the ups and downs of project costs, monitoring them through a special accountant.

Last time county voters approved a bond issue, in 1968, many residents were bitterly disillusioned when higher-than-expected costs for new construction siphoned away much of the money that had been intended for renovations.

De la Feuilliez said he thinks the higher building costs for the new schools will be offset by savings elsewhere. For instance, school officials were able to save $1.2 million earmarked for an elementary school in southwest Broward County by accepting 12 acres in the Ivanhoe development from the developer, he said.

In addition, plans for Broward`s elementary schools have been modified to save $500,000 on each school by changing from metal roofs to clay tile and by decreasing the size of the cupolas that will allow light to stream into classrooms, he said.

Even the latest estimates offer no guarantees, he said.

``These numbers are going to keep changing, depending on where the school is, what the site is, what we have to do there,`` de la Feuilliez said. ``The construction industry changes. We make changes in plans. We add things. We subtract things. It`s a continually changing process.``

Planners will continue to make adjustments to make sure expenses in the program balance out, he said.

``Some are going to cost more, some are going to cost less,`` he said, adding he expected everything will be completed.

``We`re still dealing with the same $827 million. That`s the magic number,`` he said. ``We have no other money from any other sources. We have to make the package work.``

CHANGING COSTS

How estimates of construction costs have changed. Figures do not include cost of land or design for schools.